Dean Learner

Dean Learner
First appearance	Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight
Created by	Richard Ayoade Matthew Holness
Portrayed by	Richard Ayoade
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Publisher
Nationality	British

Dean Learner is a fictional character created and performed by British comedian Richard Ayoade in stage shows and television shows. Learner is a famous publisher, mostly of pornography, but also of the books of the fictional horror writer Garth Marenghi (played by Matthew Holness).

Ayoade first played Learner in the Edinburgh Fringe stage shows Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight and Garth Marenghi's Netherhead in 2000 and 2001 respectively. In 2004 he appeared in Channel 4's spoof horror comedy Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and in 2006 in his own TV show, Man to Man with Dean Learner, which aired on Channel 4 from October 2006. It was recorded in Teddington Studios in April–May 2006 in front of a live audience and featured Learner interviewing celebrity guests – all of whom happen to be his clients (and played by Ayoade's writing partner Matthew Holness) – including Marenghi.

The character is Garth Marenghi's publisher, and regards Marenghi and his (highly dubious) talents with a respect that sometimes borders on worship (he has been known to assault small children for criticising Marenghi's writing). No matter how tatty or ridiculous Marenghi's output is, Learner is forever in awe of Marenghi's gifts. Marenghi, of course, accepts Learner's praise without question, although he doesn't seem to have any great fondness for Learner in return.

A more famous quote from one of the episodes sees Learner praise Marenghi's talents: "Garth is the most significant artist I've ever worked with and I've worked with Lulu and four other people. So, er, we're talking creme de la creme."

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